Hey there all! First time posting! Have done a fair bit of reading around the site so far and really loving all the info that's available on here. I was just hoping with some help planning my road trip, mostly in case I've missed anything obvious or any good ways of saving money along the way! (Plus if my itinerary is too ambitious, too conservative, etc.) Any help much appreciated!
Just for background - this trip will be my younger brother and I, and we are from the UK. We're flying to Boston on May 28, and renting a car on May 29 in Boston, which then has to be returned back to Boston on June 15th (was too expensive to return the car anywhere other than the original location!)
My rough itinerary so far is as follow:
May 29 (Fri) - Pick up car, 2.5 hour drive to Bristol, CT
May 30 (Sat) - Lake Compounce (11am-7pm) - 3.5 hour drive to Jackson, NJ.
May 31 (Sun) - Six Flags Great Adventure (10.30am-9pm) - 2 hour drive to Hershey, PA.
Jun 1 (Mon) - Hersheypark (10am-8pm) - 1.5 hour drive to Knoebels.
Jun 2 (Tue) - Knoebels (10am-6pm)
Jun 3 (Wed) - 6 hour drive to Sandusky, OH (possible entry to Cedar Point if time permitting)
Jun 4 (Thu) - Cedar Point (10am-8pm) - 3.5 hour drive to Mason, OH
Jun 5 (Fri) - King's Island (10am-10pm)
Jun 6 (Sat) - 2 hour drive to Louisville, KY - day & night in Kentucky
Jun 7 (Sun) - 1.5 hour drive to Santa Claus, IN - Holiday World (10am-9pm)
Jun 8 (Mon) - 6 hour drive to Chicago, IL
Jun 9 (Tue) - day & night Chicago
Jun 10 (Wed) - 1 hour drive to Gurnee, IL - Six Flags Great America (10.30am-9pm)
Jun 11 (Thu) - 6.5 hour drive to Cleveland, OH
Jun 12 (Fri) - 8.5 hour drive to Agawam, MA
Jun 13 (Sat) - Six Flags New England (10.30am-10pm)
Jun 14 (Sun) - free day
Jun 15 (Mon) - Return car to Boston at 5.30pm
Passes:
I'm planning on getting the Six Flags Gold Pass and it's much cheaper if I start at SFGAdv which is why I'm doing SFNE at the end of the trip. I've gone through the process of booking it online just to check I can do it from the UK, which it seems I can!
It offers me a Season Photo Pass for $19.99 - with unlimited photos added to it for $1.99 each. Do you know if this park would be valid for all Six Flags theme parks or just the "home" park? - the information really isn't clear on the site!
I'm trying to figure out if it's worth getting the Cedar Fair Platinum Pass. I'm planning on a full day each at KI and CP, and ideally, another half a day at CP if all goes to plan. I can get one day at each for $65, plus $45 for the other day at CP, $15x2 for CP parking, $12 for KI parking totalling $152. Are the other perks of the Platinum Pass (an hour early entry, etc.) worth the $48 additional that the pass would cost versus paying for everything separately?
Accomodation:
This is the part I'm struggling with the most. We don't care about the standard of accomodation at all (or hardly at all!) - so the cheaper the better. But I've heard we'd save money by booking motels online in advance - but this removes flaxibility. If we have bad weather one day, or get lost, or the car breaks down, etc. and we need to push everything forward again it would be a nightmare calling hotels to cancel, and so on.
Any advice on the best way to go about arranging accomodation on this trip?
Theme Parks:
Aside from Cedar Point, do you guys think I'll be selling any of these parks short by devoting only one day to them? Are there any of them that really can't be fully experienced in a full day?
Overall:
Sorry I've asked so many questions! I wish I'd started planning this trip way earlier than I have, but still - I can't wait!!!
If anyone could offer any advice, tips or thoughts on the above plan, that would be massively appreciated!